How Much Ear Van Gogh Really Cut Off

The Official Narrative:

The widely accepted story of Van Gogh's severed ear is that during the quarrel that night, Gauguin stormed out the house. In a fit of madness, Van Gogh grabbed a straight razor and followed, intending his friend harm, but returned home instead.

There, he used the weapon on himself, slicing off one ear. He wrapped the wound and delivered the appendage to a maid at the town brothel. In the morning, the police had him taken to the hospital. Gauguin subsequently packed his bags and left for Paris.

Van Gogh’s portrait of Dr. Félix Rey, who treated the artist’s mangled ear.

The author and historian Bernadette Murphy, while researching the last period of that Dutch Post Impressionist’s life for a new book, discovered a document in an American archive that may help resolve the issue.

A note written by Félix Rey, the doctor who treated van Gogh at the Arles hospital, contains a drawing of the mangled ear showing that...

The artist indeed cut off the whole thing.